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Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman: The Musical is a musical with music and lyrics by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, and a book by Garry Marshall and J. F. Lawton. The musical is based on the 1990 film of the same name written by Lawton. It centers around a down-on-her-luck Hollywood prostitute Vivian Ward, who is hired by Edward Lewis, a wealthy businessman, to be his escort for several business and social functions, and their developing relationship over the course of her week-long stay with him. The original production of Pretty Woman premiered at the Oriental Theatre, Chicago in March 2018, with direction and choreography by Jerry Mitchell, and starring Samantha Barks and Steve Kazee, as Vivian and Edward. It will make its Broadway debut at the Nederlander Theatre on August 16, 2018, where it had begun previews on July 20, 2018. Background The musical is based on the 1990 film Pretty Woman. The film was produced on a budget of just $14 million, earning over $463 million in global box office receipts. Written by J. F. Lawton, and directed by Garry Marshall, the film centers around a down-on-her-luck Hollywood prostitute Vivian Ward, who is hired by Edward Lewis, a wealthy businessman, to be his escort for several business and social functions, and their developing relationship over the course of her week-long stay with him. In March 2014, it was announced that a musical adaption of the film was being developed for the stage, with original screenwriter Lawton and director Marshall attached to write the book. The following year Marshall revealed that rights had been secured. Although Marshall passed away in July 2016, producer Paula Wagner said that work on the musical would continue. "I know he would have wanted us to continue on and therefore we will bring this story to Broadway." On September 26, 2017, the musical was officially confirmed, and it was announced that the show would receive its world premiere at the Oriental Theatre, Chicago, before an expected Broadway transfer in fall 2018. In an interview, director Jerry Mitchell said that the score "will have the feel of late ’80s-early ’90s rock: That’s one of the great things about Bryan Adams—it’s where he lives. So you’ve got the rock and roll stuff, the up-tempos." Productions Pretty Woman: The Musical made its world premiere at the Oriental Theatre in Chicago, Illinois on March 13, 2018, for a limited five week run until April 15. Following its initial run it transferred to Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre beginning previews on July 20, 2018 before the official opening on August 16, 2018. Cast for both the Chicago and Broadway productions features Samantha Barks, in her Broadway debut as Vivian, Steve Kazee as Edward, Orfeh as Kit, Jason Danieley as Philip Stuckey, Eric Anderson as Mr. Thompson and Kingsley Leggs as James Morse. Kazee left the show after the Chicago engagement due to "family reasons" and was replaced by Andy Karl. During previews on August 2, a performance was dedicated to the late Garry Marshall and was attended by his family and original Vivian Julia Roberts. A seat in the Nederlander Theatre was dedicated in his honour. The musical broke the Nederlander Theatre box office record for an eight-performance week before its official opening August 16 with a gross of $1,142,989 (83.72% percent of its potential). The musical has a book by Garry Marshall and J. F. Lawton, with direction and choreography by Jerry Mitchell, set design by David Rockwell, costume design by Gregg Barnes, and lighting design by Kenneth Posner and Philip S. Rosenberg. Music Pretty Woman features an original score, with music and lyrics by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, sound design by John Shivers and orchestrations by Will Van Dyke. The Broadway cast recording for the musical will be available from Atlantic Records digitally from September 21 2018. Physical CDs of the cast album will go on sale on October 26 2018. Musical numbers The musical numbers from the 2018 Broadway production are as follows: The musical numbers from the 2018 Chicago out-of-town production are as follows: Cast Category:2018 musicals Category:Musicals based on films